It's Super Bowl Week -- prepare for the over-saturation now.
Frankly, it's a week that makes Quickish all the more valuable -- cutting through the noise and clutter to bring you only the really good stuff to help you keep up. Please pop by today -- and all week, culminating with the Super Bowl in-game stream, which should be amazing.
*Mock the Pro Bowl all you want (and you did), the game had a ton of viewers. (But the game itself was unwatchable; it's like a Zen koan.)
*Celtics thump Lakers in LA: Not for lack of Kobe scoring, but for a serious lack of defensive effort by the defending champs.
*Oh, and then there was KG telling a Lakers ball-boy he had as much of a chance as "Bin Laden" of getting an autograph from him. Sometimes KG's dickishness is cool; mostly, it's not.
*Duke gets throttled in NYC: One of those games Duke-haters love to watch -- you'd think I would like the close calls more than the beat-downs, but nope: I love the beat-downs more. Of course, it means nothing in the grand scheme of what matters -- the NCAA Tournament. (Remember Duke getting crushed by Georgetown this time last year?)
Duke is still the team to beat; that said, they can't possibly repeat the gift-wrapped bracket path they had a year ago. That, more than anything we saw yesterday, is the biggest impediment to repeating. (Continuing not to have Kyrie Irving hurts too.)
*More CBB: So who's Number 1? Ohio State? OK, but let's file away the fact that a Northwestern team that slowed the pace of the game to a crawl -- but, more important, had absolutely no interior presence (literally: NU has the worst center in major-conference basketball) -- and nearly knocked them off. That's no resume-builder. And yet I can't believe in Texas -- at least not as a team to win six straight in late March, which is all that counts. What this weekend did, more than anything, was preclude you from feeling particularly good about ANY team's chances of winning it all.
*More NBA: Heat close out Thunder in OKC. I think we just saw the birth of a new (and not-fake) NBA rivalry. They may only play twice a year -- and never meet in the Finals (let's give it 3 years or so) -- but there's an obvious enmity. I mean, the normally staid Kevin Durant was inspired to call Chris Bosh "fake-tough," which is hardly controversial. Let's be real: Did anyone think Bosh WAS tough?
*NHL All-Star Game: Personally, I loved the "pick-sides" format, and the game was a goal-scoring frenzy. As a non-fan (I realized this weekend it's not fair to call me a "casual NHL fan" anymore), I tuned in a few times while watching other games, which is all the NHL can ask for from non-fans. (They won't want/need me anyway; they need the ASG to bolster support among the faithful, which I think it did.)
*Super Bowl mania: There was plenty of Gator gear for my kids when they were born, but if the folks in the nursery at the hospital wrapped either of them in a Yankees towel (like they do in Pittsburgh), I would have gone mildly ballistic.
*So many awesome reads on Quickish from this weekend. Head over and scroll down, hit the "More" button a few times and in less than 3 minutes, you'll get a ton of interesting perspectives and a slew of great reads for later.
-- D.S.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
01/30 (Very) Quickie
So close: I thought Northwestern (without star John Shurna) was going to lose at home to No. 1 Ohio State by 30. That they came within a single basket should be a moral victory; it sure didn't feel that way.
The lesson of yesterday's college hoops slate -- from Ohio State to the slew of upsets (too many to count) -- is that any assumptions you're making already about the bracket are wrong.
If Ohio State can get taken to the final second by Northwestern, a better team that runs at a slow pace with even a nominal presence inside (NU has none) can knock them off.
If BYU plays D like they did against New Mexico in the final 10 minutes of the game -- and UNM was playing at home and on fire, but still -- it doesn't matter how prolific Jimmer is.
UConn? They lost at home to Louisville. Villanova? Lost to Georgetown. Pitt? Nearly lost to Rutgers. Wisconsin? Lost to Penn State. Vandy and Florida? Don't get me started.
The point is that your bracket is effed already -- and you don't even know it.
****
On the one hand, this Rodgers-disses-the-Packers-on-the-IR story is overblown -- it's the first "scandal" of Super Bowl week, so folks are jumping on it. On the other hand, what was Rodgers thinking? He knew what he was saying, and I'm just not sure why he said it.
****
*The Senior Bowl really suffered for lack of a super-duper-star like Tim Tebow.
*The Pro Bowl will similarly get little attention.
*I think folks are missing a big piece of this Pujols story: So if the Cards don't sign him by the start of spring training, he's going to play the entire season with the idea he's leaving hanging over the heads of him, the team and the Cards fans? Has he thought this position through? It will dominate every. single. series. he plays. In a post-"Decision" world -- and like it or not, that's where we are -- this will be framed as LeBron 2.0. Cards fans are super-nice, but this should stretch the limits of their patience.
*Great NBA day today: Heat-Thunder (LeBron vs. Durant), then Lakers-Celtics. As it relates to top contenders, I think the NBA regular season is right up there with college hoops and the NHL as the most inconsequential in sports, but some games are absolutely must-see, and these are two of them (and on an otherwise slow day in sports -- great programming by the NBA).
*Yes, it IS a slow weekend in sports, but Quickish is hopping -- I think you'll be astounded at the depth of quick-hit content that has been collected there from yesterday and rolling along all day today. Give it a quick glance to keep up.
-- D.S.
The lesson of yesterday's college hoops slate -- from Ohio State to the slew of upsets (too many to count) -- is that any assumptions you're making already about the bracket are wrong.
If Ohio State can get taken to the final second by Northwestern, a better team that runs at a slow pace with even a nominal presence inside (NU has none) can knock them off.
If BYU plays D like they did against New Mexico in the final 10 minutes of the game -- and UNM was playing at home and on fire, but still -- it doesn't matter how prolific Jimmer is.
UConn? They lost at home to Louisville. Villanova? Lost to Georgetown. Pitt? Nearly lost to Rutgers. Wisconsin? Lost to Penn State. Vandy and Florida? Don't get me started.
The point is that your bracket is effed already -- and you don't even know it.
****
On the one hand, this Rodgers-disses-the-Packers-on-the-IR story is overblown -- it's the first "scandal" of Super Bowl week, so folks are jumping on it. On the other hand, what was Rodgers thinking? He knew what he was saying, and I'm just not sure why he said it.
****
*The Senior Bowl really suffered for lack of a super-duper-star like Tim Tebow.
*The Pro Bowl will similarly get little attention.
*I think folks are missing a big piece of this Pujols story: So if the Cards don't sign him by the start of spring training, he's going to play the entire season with the idea he's leaving hanging over the heads of him, the team and the Cards fans? Has he thought this position through? It will dominate every. single. series. he plays. In a post-"Decision" world -- and like it or not, that's where we are -- this will be framed as LeBron 2.0. Cards fans are super-nice, but this should stretch the limits of their patience.
*Great NBA day today: Heat-Thunder (LeBron vs. Durant), then Lakers-Celtics. As it relates to top contenders, I think the NBA regular season is right up there with college hoops and the NHL as the most inconsequential in sports, but some games are absolutely must-see, and these are two of them (and on an otherwise slow day in sports -- great programming by the NBA).
*Yes, it IS a slow weekend in sports, but Quickish is hopping -- I think you'll be astounded at the depth of quick-hit content that has been collected there from yesterday and rolling along all day today. Give it a quick glance to keep up.
-- D.S.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
01/29 (Very) Quickie
So I actually watched the entire NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft last night, and mostly, it showed me how far the sport had drifted from my attention.
But as for the draft itself, I thought its reality came about as much to matching the promise of its premise as the league could have hoped for.
The Sedins were split (in the event's biggest drama). The Staals stayed together. Alexander Ovechkin was NOT a 1st-round pick. Phil Kessel was the last player selected, and the visual of him sitting by himself, sheepishly, was every bit as interesting as we thought it would be. (Schadenfreudishly, Ovie even was caught taking a picture of lonely Kessel.) For his trouble, Kessel got $20K for charity and a new Honda -- not a bad consolation prize.
It remains an experiment worth trying in the NBA and NFL.
****
College hoops today: Jimmer's not on TV, so we're reduced to tracking his scoring on an online scoreboard. Otherwise, G'town-Nova tips things off at noon and the day winds up with its headliner, Mizzou at Texas.
Clijsters wins Aussie Open: Go moms!
Is this the slowest sports weekend of the winter in sports? Has to be one of them, right? There's still the NHL All-Star Game, the NFL Draft Senior Bowl. That's OK.
It makes it all the more cool that Quickish is zipping away -- the pace of real-time talk in places like Twitter might be slower, but there are a ton of good stories to recommend. Check back throughout the day to keep up. So many good things published yesterday, if you didn't drop by.
-- D.S.
But as for the draft itself, I thought its reality came about as much to matching the promise of its premise as the league could have hoped for.
The Sedins were split (in the event's biggest drama). The Staals stayed together. Alexander Ovechkin was NOT a 1st-round pick. Phil Kessel was the last player selected, and the visual of him sitting by himself, sheepishly, was every bit as interesting as we thought it would be. (Schadenfreudishly, Ovie even was caught taking a picture of lonely Kessel.) For his trouble, Kessel got $20K for charity and a new Honda -- not a bad consolation prize.
It remains an experiment worth trying in the NBA and NFL.
****
College hoops today: Jimmer's not on TV, so we're reduced to tracking his scoring on an online scoreboard. Otherwise, G'town-Nova tips things off at noon and the day winds up with its headliner, Mizzou at Texas.
Clijsters wins Aussie Open: Go moms!
Is this the slowest sports weekend of the winter in sports? Has to be one of them, right? There's still the NHL All-Star Game, the NFL Draft Senior Bowl. That's OK.
It makes it all the more cool that Quickish is zipping away -- the pace of real-time talk in places like Twitter might be slower, but there are a ton of good stories to recommend. Check back throughout the day to keep up. So many good things published yesterday, if you didn't drop by.
-- D.S.
Friday, January 28, 2011
1/28 Quickie: NHL, Knicks, Fisher, Morgan, More
Kudos to the NHL, which is launching the 2nd-most innovative thing the league has ever done (and one of the more innovative ideas in large-league sports in recent years):
Tonight, the NHL's All-Star captains are "picking sides," just like you did when playing in the schoolyard (or community rink) as a kid. There will be a first pick. More interestingly, there will be a LAST pick. (And that the NHL didn't sugar-coat this is to their massive credit.)
All in all, it's enough to make a casual (even a "non-") NHL fan tune in to watch, and you can only hope that the NBA and NFL follow suit. It's a phenomenal idea.
*****
NFL: Titans part ways with Jeff Fisher, previously the longest-tenured coach in football. Better for him to leave now than have a lame-duck year, THEN get exit.
NBA: Knicks beat Heat. The game had a playoff intensity, right down to Tracy Morgan making news before the game with his Sarah Palin thing. (Yeesh. Live, it was insane to see.)
But about the Knicks: Amare is obviously the most popular player on the team, but rookie Landry Fields can't be far behind. NBA draftniks haven't whiffed on a player so badly in a while.
NFL Labor: It's not that Antonio Cromartie is "going Crogue." It's that the union is freaking out in dealing with him, extending to Matt Hasselbeck's ill-advised Twitter confrontation.
Let's be more clear: Hasselbeck was a moron to engage Cromartie on Twitter. Cro couldn't care less what he says; Hasselbeck cares a great deal what you think about him.
And so when Cro smacked Hasselbeck back, and Hasselbeck returned a weak volley of "Heh heh, just kidding. So sorry!" the QB looked like a chump.
It's not so far off from the way the union looks when its players all tweet out bleats of solidarity whenever Cro tees off through Twitter. It's beneath them.
(For gosh sakes: Just give Cro some cash under the table to stop. Is it really that hard?)
The union gets some back with the new Esquire piece detailing some serious institutional injury issues among NFL players -- nothing you don't already presume, but it's always stark to see the numbers.
NFL Draft: The Senior Bowl is tomorrow. It's just not the same without the Tim Tebow insanity of last year.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek released it's Top 100 most business-influential athletes list, and Peyton was No. 1. LeBron wasn't in the Top 10 and Tim Tebow wasn't among the Top 100, so it's very hard to take the list seriously.
Must-read: Yesterday's amazing essay on Deadspin by contributor Katie Baker about her life in the late-90s as an online "puck tease." One of the best sports stories you'll read all year.
There's a ton more on Quickish, so drop by to catch up on yesterday, keep up during the day and stay on top of everything throughout the weekend. It takes about 30 seconds per visit to catch up, with plenty more to read through links (but only if you want).
Otherwise, have a great weekend! (But, sincerely: Please check out Quickish. And, in advance of a big push next week, please tell a few friends today about it. It would really help.)
-- D.S.
Tonight, the NHL's All-Star captains are "picking sides," just like you did when playing in the schoolyard (or community rink) as a kid. There will be a first pick. More interestingly, there will be a LAST pick. (And that the NHL didn't sugar-coat this is to their massive credit.)
All in all, it's enough to make a casual (even a "non-") NHL fan tune in to watch, and you can only hope that the NBA and NFL follow suit. It's a phenomenal idea.
*****
NFL: Titans part ways with Jeff Fisher, previously the longest-tenured coach in football. Better for him to leave now than have a lame-duck year, THEN get exit.
NBA: Knicks beat Heat. The game had a playoff intensity, right down to Tracy Morgan making news before the game with his Sarah Palin thing. (Yeesh. Live, it was insane to see.)
But about the Knicks: Amare is obviously the most popular player on the team, but rookie Landry Fields can't be far behind. NBA draftniks haven't whiffed on a player so badly in a while.
NFL Labor: It's not that Antonio Cromartie is "going Crogue." It's that the union is freaking out in dealing with him, extending to Matt Hasselbeck's ill-advised Twitter confrontation.
Let's be more clear: Hasselbeck was a moron to engage Cromartie on Twitter. Cro couldn't care less what he says; Hasselbeck cares a great deal what you think about him.
And so when Cro smacked Hasselbeck back, and Hasselbeck returned a weak volley of "Heh heh, just kidding. So sorry!" the QB looked like a chump.
It's not so far off from the way the union looks when its players all tweet out bleats of solidarity whenever Cro tees off through Twitter. It's beneath them.
(For gosh sakes: Just give Cro some cash under the table to stop. Is it really that hard?)
The union gets some back with the new Esquire piece detailing some serious institutional injury issues among NFL players -- nothing you don't already presume, but it's always stark to see the numbers.
NFL Draft: The Senior Bowl is tomorrow. It's just not the same without the Tim Tebow insanity of last year.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek released it's Top 100 most business-influential athletes list, and Peyton was No. 1. LeBron wasn't in the Top 10 and Tim Tebow wasn't among the Top 100, so it's very hard to take the list seriously.
Must-read: Yesterday's amazing essay on Deadspin by contributor Katie Baker about her life in the late-90s as an online "puck tease." One of the best sports stories you'll read all year.
There's a ton more on Quickish, so drop by to catch up on yesterday, keep up during the day and stay on top of everything throughout the weekend. It takes about 30 seconds per visit to catch up, with plenty more to read through links (but only if you want).
Otherwise, have a great weekend! (But, sincerely: Please check out Quickish. And, in advance of a big push next week, please tell a few friends today about it. It would really help.)
-- D.S.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
01/27: We Got Jimmered
Jimmer Fredette has picked his spot nicely.
During the slow mid-week before the week before the Super Bowl, Jimmer -- BYU's superstar scoring guard -- went from object of obsession for the college hoops intelligentsia to...
Full-blown sports rock star.
In the biggest game of his season last night -- hard enough to catch on TV (CBS College Sports, which had even me looking for an illicit internet video feed) that it almost felt more interesting, like watching Prince at a small club rather than an arena -- Jimmer had 43 in a W.
And it felt... quiet. Not just quiet: Easy. As quiet as 43 can be in an arena packed with rabid fans. Just look at this photo -- it was taken not by a pro, but by Jags LB Kirk Morrison, who was just there to watch the game.
We have had smaller-school college hoops phenoms recently -- Stephen Curry, Adam Morrison -- but Jimmer is the first real one of the Twitter Era, where buzz can elevate "CBS College Sports" to a Twitter Trending Topic (to be replaced by "Jimmer," undoubtedly).
His NBA future? He is expected to be a 1st-round pick, and like super college scorers who are presumably odd NBA fits before him -- like Curry and JJ Redick -- his stock will go up and he will go in the Top 10. Someone will do it.
His NCAA Tournament future? Curry made it deep into the second weekend. I'm not sure Fredette will get that far, but it sure would be good for the sport and the event if he did. San Diego State is no joke; that was a Sweet 16-quality win (if benefiting from home cooking).
But those are for another time. For now, it's just Jimmer the Rock Star, the big story of the day.
****
More on the radar:
Li Na is going to take over the world: When you become an instant sensation with a billion fans in China, you tend to move the needle. This showed up on Quickish this morning -- more fans could watch the Aussie Open women's final than the Super Bowl... by a lot.
Federer KO'ed: He's just not the same anymore. Hope you enjoyed his dominance while it lasted.
Kevin Durant is the Jimmer of the NBA: Kidding. Kevin Durant is just awesome, with 47 and 18 in an OT win over the T'wolves (Kevin Love wasn't bad either: 31 and 21. Sheesh.)
Tonight: LeBron and the Heat at Madison Square Garden. I think they beat the Knicks by 20, even without Chris Bosh. These Knicks could barely shake off the Wizards on Monday.
NFL union civil war? I'm dubbing it "Going Crogue," because Antonio Cromartie has been spouting off in ways that undermine the union's cause, so the union -- in a bit of a panic -- asked some members to tweet out their support. It came across as somewhat desperate; you're so afraid of a single player? Doesn't say much for the strength of your hand.
More later
-- D.S.
During the slow mid-week before the week before the Super Bowl, Jimmer -- BYU's superstar scoring guard -- went from object of obsession for the college hoops intelligentsia to...
Full-blown sports rock star.
In the biggest game of his season last night -- hard enough to catch on TV (CBS College Sports, which had even me looking for an illicit internet video feed) that it almost felt more interesting, like watching Prince at a small club rather than an arena -- Jimmer had 43 in a W.
And it felt... quiet. Not just quiet: Easy. As quiet as 43 can be in an arena packed with rabid fans. Just look at this photo -- it was taken not by a pro, but by Jags LB Kirk Morrison, who was just there to watch the game.
We have had smaller-school college hoops phenoms recently -- Stephen Curry, Adam Morrison -- but Jimmer is the first real one of the Twitter Era, where buzz can elevate "CBS College Sports" to a Twitter Trending Topic (to be replaced by "Jimmer," undoubtedly).
His NBA future? He is expected to be a 1st-round pick, and like super college scorers who are presumably odd NBA fits before him -- like Curry and JJ Redick -- his stock will go up and he will go in the Top 10. Someone will do it.
His NCAA Tournament future? Curry made it deep into the second weekend. I'm not sure Fredette will get that far, but it sure would be good for the sport and the event if he did. San Diego State is no joke; that was a Sweet 16-quality win (if benefiting from home cooking).
But those are for another time. For now, it's just Jimmer the Rock Star, the big story of the day.
****
More on the radar:
Li Na is going to take over the world: When you become an instant sensation with a billion fans in China, you tend to move the needle. This showed up on Quickish this morning -- more fans could watch the Aussie Open women's final than the Super Bowl... by a lot.
Federer KO'ed: He's just not the same anymore. Hope you enjoyed his dominance while it lasted.
Kevin Durant is the Jimmer of the NBA: Kidding. Kevin Durant is just awesome, with 47 and 18 in an OT win over the T'wolves (Kevin Love wasn't bad either: 31 and 21. Sheesh.)
Tonight: LeBron and the Heat at Madison Square Garden. I think they beat the Knicks by 20, even without Chris Bosh. These Knicks could barely shake off the Wizards on Monday.
NFL union civil war? I'm dubbing it "Going Crogue," because Antonio Cromartie has been spouting off in ways that undermine the union's cause, so the union -- in a bit of a panic -- asked some members to tweet out their support. It came across as somewhat desperate; you're so afraid of a single player? Doesn't say much for the strength of your hand.
More later
-- D.S.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
01/26 Quickie: Let's Get Quicker
I'm realizing that I'm hitting on only the really big topics here, when on Quickish, there seems to be a lot more going on -- and a lot more I want to cover in a Quickie column. So today is going to be fast(er) and (not quite) furious....
*Ohio State throttles Purdue: Oh, OSU is No. 1, clearly. But in college hoops, that is completely meaningless. Unless the Buckeyes win the national title, the season is a failure.
*Tonight: San Diego State at BYU, one of the best college hoops games of the regular season. SDSU is unbeaten; BYU is once-beaten and features the nation's most must-see player, Jimmer Fredette. Shame this game is shunted off to CBS College Sports.
*Dozen Iowa football players get sick after offseason workout: How many things have to go wrong before the Iowa administration finally fires Kirk Ferentz? Apparently, it's unlimited.
*Brian Cashman says Derek Jeter will eventually have to play the outfield: But this is a non-issue. I'm sure Jeter will insist on remaining at shortstop. (Frankly, everyone knows he should have moved over to 2B when A-Rod got to NY, and it was the antithesis of being the "captain" to not do what was best for the team. Then again, where would Cano play?)
*CFB: UConn booster wants his money back. I love this story. First of all, it's the guy's right to take his money back, for any reason. Second, let's not be naive: The biggest booster of a school's football program SHOULD have a say -- or at least he should be given the chance to have a say. It's a business, and this is an investor, whether we call them that or not. Third: Let's not argue the guy doesn't have a point -- Paul Pasqualoni was a TERRIBLE hire. Fourth: Don't think the top-money booster doesn't matter to a program? Let's see how UConn does without his money. (Robert Burton: You are welcome to join the angel syndicate for Quickish.)
*Herschel Walker back in NFL? Who doubts that, if given carries in an actual game, he couldn't be productive -- probably very productive? He is one of the most unique athletes in the history of sports. Totally doable.
*Rankings: Top 25 Coolest Athletes Ever? I'm a sucker for superlative rankings, so GQ got me. Hard to top Ali as the coolest of coolest. Nice to see at least one new-ish athlete on the list, Tim Lincecum. Can't help but think they're missing a few (including anyone pre-1950's).
*State of the Union address: The big/only sports crossover was when President Obama said we needed to celebrate the Science Fair winner as much as we do the Super Bowl winner. We already do: No Super Bowl winner is more celebrated that Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg or the Google guys, who are the "science" equivalent of Super Bowl winners.
*Great reads: The Slate sports folks are crushing it the past few weeks, and their columns the past two days have been absolutely phenomenal. Find them here.
*Book Club: "Scorecasting," which is like "Freakonomics" for sports. Great early reviews.
*Media: What did you think of that Peter King post yesterday? He actually acknowledged on Twitter that he remembered me (not that that was something I was going for). From last night's HBO report about him, I do wish they had changed one thing: They said his column gets "3 million hits" a week. Ugh. Page-view totals are worthless, particularly when you cynically chop up columns into as many pages as possible (Not King's fault, but SI.com chops his into 6 pages. So if you assume all users click through all 6 pages -- a terrible assumption, btw -- he only really has about 500,000 readers a week. That's still a really huge number. But, just for comparison's sake, the Daily Quickie -- publishing 5x as frequently, obviously -- did about 500,000 unique users a week, on average.)
*Happy 50th birthday, Wayne Gretzky: "Skate to where the puck is going, not where it's been."
After a few weeks of struggling with the Quickie post because I was juggling Quickish launch stuff, I feel like I got the groove back today. Speaking of which, visit Quickish now, pop by throughout the day, and tell your friends.
-- D.S.
*Ohio State throttles Purdue: Oh, OSU is No. 1, clearly. But in college hoops, that is completely meaningless. Unless the Buckeyes win the national title, the season is a failure.
*Tonight: San Diego State at BYU, one of the best college hoops games of the regular season. SDSU is unbeaten; BYU is once-beaten and features the nation's most must-see player, Jimmer Fredette. Shame this game is shunted off to CBS College Sports.
*Dozen Iowa football players get sick after offseason workout: How many things have to go wrong before the Iowa administration finally fires Kirk Ferentz? Apparently, it's unlimited.
*Brian Cashman says Derek Jeter will eventually have to play the outfield: But this is a non-issue. I'm sure Jeter will insist on remaining at shortstop. (Frankly, everyone knows he should have moved over to 2B when A-Rod got to NY, and it was the antithesis of being the "captain" to not do what was best for the team. Then again, where would Cano play?)
*CFB: UConn booster wants his money back. I love this story. First of all, it's the guy's right to take his money back, for any reason. Second, let's not be naive: The biggest booster of a school's football program SHOULD have a say -- or at least he should be given the chance to have a say. It's a business, and this is an investor, whether we call them that or not. Third: Let's not argue the guy doesn't have a point -- Paul Pasqualoni was a TERRIBLE hire. Fourth: Don't think the top-money booster doesn't matter to a program? Let's see how UConn does without his money. (Robert Burton: You are welcome to join the angel syndicate for Quickish.)
*Herschel Walker back in NFL? Who doubts that, if given carries in an actual game, he couldn't be productive -- probably very productive? He is one of the most unique athletes in the history of sports. Totally doable.
*Rankings: Top 25 Coolest Athletes Ever? I'm a sucker for superlative rankings, so GQ got me. Hard to top Ali as the coolest of coolest. Nice to see at least one new-ish athlete on the list, Tim Lincecum. Can't help but think they're missing a few (including anyone pre-1950's).
*State of the Union address: The big/only sports crossover was when President Obama said we needed to celebrate the Science Fair winner as much as we do the Super Bowl winner. We already do: No Super Bowl winner is more celebrated that Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg or the Google guys, who are the "science" equivalent of Super Bowl winners.
*Great reads: The Slate sports folks are crushing it the past few weeks, and their columns the past two days have been absolutely phenomenal. Find them here.
*Book Club: "Scorecasting," which is like "Freakonomics" for sports. Great early reviews.
*Media: What did you think of that Peter King post yesterday? He actually acknowledged on Twitter that he remembered me (not that that was something I was going for). From last night's HBO report about him, I do wish they had changed one thing: They said his column gets "3 million hits" a week. Ugh. Page-view totals are worthless, particularly when you cynically chop up columns into as many pages as possible (Not King's fault, but SI.com chops his into 6 pages. So if you assume all users click through all 6 pages -- a terrible assumption, btw -- he only really has about 500,000 readers a week. That's still a really huge number. But, just for comparison's sake, the Daily Quickie -- publishing 5x as frequently, obviously -- did about 500,000 unique users a week, on average.)
*Happy 50th birthday, Wayne Gretzky: "Skate to where the puck is going, not where it's been."
After a few weeks of struggling with the Quickie post because I was juggling Quickish launch stuff, I feel like I got the groove back today. Speaking of which, visit Quickish now, pop by throughout the day, and tell your friends.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
On Peter King's MMQB
HBO "Real Sports" will profile Peter King tonight, with a specific focus on King's popular "Monday Morning Quarterback" column. Taking a second out from keeping up Quickish (what? you haven't tried it yet? please do!) I'd like to add a bit of context...
Peter King will not remember me*, but between 1998 and 1999 I was his “editor” at SI.com (nee CNNSI.com) and was responsible, along with my boss, for back-reading what was then the 2nd year of King’s online column “Monday Morning Quarterback.”
King, to his credit, understood intuitively the voice and pace and essential populism of what makes great online content -- particularly impressive in 1998, when most mainstream media’s interest in the Web ranged from ignorance to hostility.
Taking enthusiastically to the opportunities of the web format, King did four things very right with MMQB:
(1) He wrote naturally. It was like you were sitting on a barstool (or, more in King’s wheelhouse, airline seat next to him). This was a dramatic departure from the heavily edited, depersonalized pieces you normally saw in Sports Illustrated and elsewhere in mainstream sports media.
(2) He wrote at whatever length he wanted, but wisely deployed tons of formatting. Some people took to the online format because they could write at whatever lengths they wanted, but King’s word count never felt gratuitous, in part because the column was parsed into natural sections: Some kind of lead, lists and rankings, personal stories. It was long, but easy to consume.
(3) He provided a combination of insider details that were manna for football fans and simply weren’t found online at the time... and insider details about his life. It’s a point of contention throughout the history of MMQB between the folks who just want the football and can’t stand the stories about King’s take on coffee or travel or baseball or his daughters’ sports teams -- and those who absolutely love that stuff. If you hate it, you can skip over it; however, I would contend that it was the personal details as much as the football ones that drove the column’s success.
(4) It was a “franchise,” right down to its name: Every Monday morning, you’d get the column. It was built on King’s brand, yes, but also on a programming schedule that readers could easily follow (Mondays also not coincidentally also the biggest traffic day of the week in online sports media).
And MMQB was successful -- SI.com’s most popular content then and now. Along with Jimmy Traina’s Hot Clicks, it is the signature piece of programming for SI.com, and MMQB is one of the most recognizable and popular pieces of sports content on the Web. There is an argument to be made -- successfully -- that it is the single-most popular and successful programming “franchise” in online sports (which I’ll distinguish from a writer’s overall popularity, which Bill Simmons claims by a wide margin).
As someone who has been around online sports media since 1995, I’ve seen a lot and have a long institutional memory. To oversimplify, what King did was groundbreaking. Specifically:
*WHO was doing it (traditional and widely respected sports reporter);
*WHERE he was going it (venerable Sports Illustrated);
*HOW he was doing it (formatted, fan-friendly, franchised, near-real-time deadline);
*WHY he was doing it, which is not to be understated (unquestionably, it raised his profile -- far more than any work he ever did in SI’s magazine and almost certainly contributed to the overall popularity that got him the NFL Sunday Night TV gig).
In fact, the HBO segment tonight is specifically pegged off of King’s success with the “MMQB” column.
(It is worth noting that this is not some one-trick element in King's philosophy. He is among the most active mainstream sportswriters on Twitter -- with nearly half a million followers -- and spends a good chunk of his Twitter time responding to readers, both folks with questions and ones with complaints. He has shown as much of a facility with the new platform as the old one, and it begs the quiestion of whether King qualifies as one of the few talents in online sports media whose popularity could support his own stand-alone brand -- and the list is very short. I'm not suggesting he would or should try; like Simmons and ESPN, there is little-to-no upside to leaving the larger company.)
I don’t think Peter would argue if I said that, starting more than a decade ago, he became an online sportswriter who happened to write for a magazine and appear on TV.
Please be sure to visit Quickish, Dan's newly launched company, offering real-time quick-hit recommendations about the biggest topics in sports news.
* - OK, he remembers.
-- D.S.
Peter King will not remember me*, but between 1998 and 1999 I was his “editor” at SI.com (nee CNNSI.com) and was responsible, along with my boss, for back-reading what was then the 2nd year of King’s online column “Monday Morning Quarterback.”
King, to his credit, understood intuitively the voice and pace and essential populism of what makes great online content -- particularly impressive in 1998, when most mainstream media’s interest in the Web ranged from ignorance to hostility.
Taking enthusiastically to the opportunities of the web format, King did four things very right with MMQB:
(1) He wrote naturally. It was like you were sitting on a barstool (or, more in King’s wheelhouse, airline seat next to him). This was a dramatic departure from the heavily edited, depersonalized pieces you normally saw in Sports Illustrated and elsewhere in mainstream sports media.
(2) He wrote at whatever length he wanted, but wisely deployed tons of formatting. Some people took to the online format because they could write at whatever lengths they wanted, but King’s word count never felt gratuitous, in part because the column was parsed into natural sections: Some kind of lead, lists and rankings, personal stories. It was long, but easy to consume.
(3) He provided a combination of insider details that were manna for football fans and simply weren’t found online at the time... and insider details about his life. It’s a point of contention throughout the history of MMQB between the folks who just want the football and can’t stand the stories about King’s take on coffee or travel or baseball or his daughters’ sports teams -- and those who absolutely love that stuff. If you hate it, you can skip over it; however, I would contend that it was the personal details as much as the football ones that drove the column’s success.
(4) It was a “franchise,” right down to its name: Every Monday morning, you’d get the column. It was built on King’s brand, yes, but also on a programming schedule that readers could easily follow (Mondays also not coincidentally also the biggest traffic day of the week in online sports media).
And MMQB was successful -- SI.com’s most popular content then and now. Along with Jimmy Traina’s Hot Clicks, it is the signature piece of programming for SI.com, and MMQB is one of the most recognizable and popular pieces of sports content on the Web. There is an argument to be made -- successfully -- that it is the single-most popular and successful programming “franchise” in online sports (which I’ll distinguish from a writer’s overall popularity, which Bill Simmons claims by a wide margin).
As someone who has been around online sports media since 1995, I’ve seen a lot and have a long institutional memory. To oversimplify, what King did was groundbreaking. Specifically:
*WHO was doing it (traditional and widely respected sports reporter);
*WHERE he was going it (venerable Sports Illustrated);
*HOW he was doing it (formatted, fan-friendly, franchised, near-real-time deadline);
*WHY he was doing it, which is not to be understated (unquestionably, it raised his profile -- far more than any work he ever did in SI’s magazine and almost certainly contributed to the overall popularity that got him the NFL Sunday Night TV gig).
In fact, the HBO segment tonight is specifically pegged off of King’s success with the “MMQB” column.
(It is worth noting that this is not some one-trick element in King's philosophy. He is among the most active mainstream sportswriters on Twitter -- with nearly half a million followers -- and spends a good chunk of his Twitter time responding to readers, both folks with questions and ones with complaints. He has shown as much of a facility with the new platform as the old one, and it begs the quiestion of whether King qualifies as one of the few talents in online sports media whose popularity could support his own stand-alone brand -- and the list is very short. I'm not suggesting he would or should try; like Simmons and ESPN, there is little-to-no upside to leaving the larger company.)
I don’t think Peter would argue if I said that, starting more than a decade ago, he became an online sportswriter who happened to write for a magazine and appear on TV.
Please be sure to visit Quickish, Dan's newly launched company, offering real-time quick-hit recommendations about the biggest topics in sports news.
* - OK, he remembers.
-- D.S.
State of the Sports Union: Your Turn
Today's theme is "State of the Sports Union" and I want you to have your say...on Quickish.
Just Tweet out your quick take on the state of the sports union, using the hashtag #quickish.
If you're not on Twitter, shoot an email to tips[at]quickish[dot]com.
I'll post as many as I can on Quickish throughout the day. Thanks!
--- Dan
Just Tweet out your quick take on the state of the sports union, using the hashtag #quickish.
If you're not on Twitter, shoot an email to tips[at]quickish[dot]com.
I'll post as many as I can on Quickish throughout the day. Thanks!
--- Dan
01/25: State of Sports Union,
Cutler Hangover , Oscars, More
Today is the State of the Union address, and it's an annual tradition that I offer up my own "State of the Sports Union," and so here we go:
The state of the sports union is, as I have said every year, as strong as it has ever been. More people are consuming sports than ever. More people are into fantasy. More people are transfixed by whatever the story-of-the-day might be.
Things like "The Decision" or the Cam Newton saga or Brett Favre "dong shots" or even the insane flurry surrounding Jay Cutler over the last 36 hours are not, per se, "bad" for sports. On the contrary, it is entirely healthy. It's hard to argue with the fan interest.
Then throw in the things that we already agree are awesome -- the Saints winning the Super Bowl, the World Cup, Tim Tebow putting up monster stats as an NFL starting QB (kidding), the Pats losing to the Jets (not kidding).
The volume and velocity of sports consumption has increased over the last year -- but I'm actually going to argue that we've reached a sort of "terminal velocity." The next evolution is managing life at that pace and intensity, which is part of the reason I founded Quickish.
But where we are is by no means bad or, as crotchety Frank Deford put it this morning, "terrible." In fact, the state of sports is better than it has ever been.
***
The Jay Cutler reaction torrent yesterday was wearying, but it's worth noting where we netted out:
The initial, in-game reaction was largely recanted -- naturally, the same media who were ripping Cutler (or facilitating the ripping during the game) turned it into some kind of meta "It's Twitter's fault!" argument, or some such thing.
Cutler may be a pretty repulsive personality. Cutler may not have displayed the bearing of someone who wanted-to-go-but-couldn't. But that's our problem, not his. If we (we meaning his fellow players on Twitter or the media or certain fans) wanted to see him wince or limp or something, that's on us, not him.
I think it's clear that if he could have played, he would have.
***
Now, as for this bunk argument about "oh-woe-is-us-this-insta-opinion-world-we-live-in!" Come on. (1) It's been that way for at least a decade, but probably longer. (2) Twitter in sports is a vast net gain, and if you're going to worry about the stuff at the margins, you're missing the bigger picture.
And (3) As someone who has built a BUSINESS on real-time news, I am going to tell you that when you weed out the crap (thus: Quickish), the insta-reactions are largely...awesome. Not shallow. Not knee-jerk. Not ill-informed. But smart, provocative and -- largely -- the framework for "morning-after" columns and coverage.
***
CBB: Notre Dame shocks Pitt at Pitt. That's the best game ND will play all year. Still not buying them to get out of the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament.
Tonight: Purdue at No. 1 Ohio State. Should be a great one.
***
Movies: The Oscar-nomination successs of "The Fighter" makes it one of the most decorated sports movies of all time. Best Picture. Best Director. Best Supporting Actress (two!) and Best Supporting Actor (Christian Bale, the favorite to win).
***
TV: HBO's "Real Sports" tonight will profile Peter King. I'm trying to pull together a post for later today about him. Check back.
***
It's 12 days until the Super Bowl and I'm already weary of the "TWO CLASSIC FRANCHISES!" storyline.
-- D.S.
The state of the sports union is, as I have said every year, as strong as it has ever been. More people are consuming sports than ever. More people are into fantasy. More people are transfixed by whatever the story-of-the-day might be.
Things like "The Decision" or the Cam Newton saga or Brett Favre "dong shots" or even the insane flurry surrounding Jay Cutler over the last 36 hours are not, per se, "bad" for sports. On the contrary, it is entirely healthy. It's hard to argue with the fan interest.
Then throw in the things that we already agree are awesome -- the Saints winning the Super Bowl, the World Cup, Tim Tebow putting up monster stats as an NFL starting QB (kidding), the Pats losing to the Jets (not kidding).
The volume and velocity of sports consumption has increased over the last year -- but I'm actually going to argue that we've reached a sort of "terminal velocity." The next evolution is managing life at that pace and intensity, which is part of the reason I founded Quickish.
But where we are is by no means bad or, as crotchety Frank Deford put it this morning, "terrible." In fact, the state of sports is better than it has ever been.
***
The Jay Cutler reaction torrent yesterday was wearying, but it's worth noting where we netted out:
The initial, in-game reaction was largely recanted -- naturally, the same media who were ripping Cutler (or facilitating the ripping during the game) turned it into some kind of meta "It's Twitter's fault!" argument, or some such thing.
Cutler may be a pretty repulsive personality. Cutler may not have displayed the bearing of someone who wanted-to-go-but-couldn't. But that's our problem, not his. If we (we meaning his fellow players on Twitter or the media or certain fans) wanted to see him wince or limp or something, that's on us, not him.
I think it's clear that if he could have played, he would have.
***
Now, as for this bunk argument about "oh-woe-is-us-this-insta-opinion-world-we-live-in!" Come on. (1) It's been that way for at least a decade, but probably longer. (2) Twitter in sports is a vast net gain, and if you're going to worry about the stuff at the margins, you're missing the bigger picture.
And (3) As someone who has built a BUSINESS on real-time news, I am going to tell you that when you weed out the crap (thus: Quickish), the insta-reactions are largely...awesome. Not shallow. Not knee-jerk. Not ill-informed. But smart, provocative and -- largely -- the framework for "morning-after" columns and coverage.
***
CBB: Notre Dame shocks Pitt at Pitt. That's the best game ND will play all year. Still not buying them to get out of the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament.
Tonight: Purdue at No. 1 Ohio State. Should be a great one.
***
Movies: The Oscar-nomination successs of "The Fighter" makes it one of the most decorated sports movies of all time. Best Picture. Best Director. Best Supporting Actress (two!) and Best Supporting Actor (Christian Bale, the favorite to win).
***
TV: HBO's "Real Sports" tonight will profile Peter King. I'm trying to pull together a post for later today about him. Check back.
***
It's 12 days until the Super Bowl and I'm already weary of the "TWO CLASSIC FRANCHISES!" storyline.
-- D.S.
Monday, January 24, 2011
NYC Save the Date: Feb 3
If you live in NYC (and aren't, say, going to the Super Bowl), save the date: Feb. 3 for the greatest Varsity Letters event in its history.
That's because VL is celebrating its 5th anniversary -- good grief, it's older than my older kid. And doing it with an all-star lineup, featuring a mix of alums and noobs:
Klosterman. Leitch. Joe Drape. Alex Belth. Jason Fry. Amy K. Nelson. Henry Abbott. Jeff Pearlman. Katie Baker. Emma Span. Ben Cohen. Michael Weinreb. Sam Walker (the very first Varsity Letters reader). Current VL curator Carl Bialik.
And me, if only because I founded the damn thing. I promise not to talk long. Actually, none of them are going to talk long.
As it happens, Quickish is sponsoring the event, and true to form, everyone is limited to 3 minutes of all-new material on a topic related to "defining moments." Presumably about sports. But we're offering a lot of leeway.
It should be a terrific night at a terrific new venue. Hope to see you there.
-- D.S.
That's because VL is celebrating its 5th anniversary -- good grief, it's older than my older kid. And doing it with an all-star lineup, featuring a mix of alums and noobs:
Klosterman. Leitch. Joe Drape. Alex Belth. Jason Fry. Amy K. Nelson. Henry Abbott. Jeff Pearlman. Katie Baker. Emma Span. Ben Cohen. Michael Weinreb. Sam Walker (the very first Varsity Letters reader). Current VL curator Carl Bialik.
And me, if only because I founded the damn thing. I promise not to talk long. Actually, none of them are going to talk long.
As it happens, Quickish is sponsoring the event, and true to form, everyone is limited to 3 minutes of all-new material on a topic related to "defining moments." Presumably about sports. But we're offering a lot of leeway.
It should be a terrific night at a terrific new venue. Hope to see you there.
-- D.S.
01/24: Cutler, Steelers, Packers, More
Can you recall any time in NFL history when, on the Monday morning after the conference championship games, our No. 1 focus wasn't on the winners, but on a losing team's QB?
Jay Cutler IS the story of the day, and I've been trying to figure out if I can add anything substantial to a discussion that has really come down to:
(1) Was he dogging it? (HE WAS DOGGING IT!)
(2) Was he injured? (LEAVE HIM ALONE!)
And I think I'm going to focus on the question marks, not either side, because it is the question marks that define the story.
Jay Cutler's problem was one of perception, but it wasn't the perception that he's an asshole normally thus he is dogging it now.
I put the blame for this entire "cutlerf--k" on the Bears PR team, which could have de-fused the entire situation with a simple "The docs said he can't play." That's it.
What compounded the failure was that they should have TOTALLY seen this problem brewing -- it was right there for everyone to see on Twitter, literally within 10 seconds of Cutler limping.
Jay Cutler doesn't need to get off the bench and look attentive, if that's not how he normally is and his teammates know it. The guy is a bit of a laconic chucklehead.
However, count me among the camp that believes that if he could have been in there, he would have been. Just because he's not emotive about it -- just because he has possibly the worst media-management skills of any player in the NFL (and, again, not helped by his own team's PR staff) -- doesn't mean he was faking it. Or didn't want it. Or gave up.
Or quit.
I will not condemn the rush-to-judgment that happened on Twitter during the afternoon -- hell, it made the game's Quickish stream infinitely more compelling.
I do think, however, that you can already see some walking-back as more of the story comes out -- as the Bears defend him, as columnists defend him, as players reconsider their snap judgment.
There is no question: Fair or not, Cutler has seen his career indelibly tarnished by this. It is, for now, the new defining moment of his career.
I don't think he cares (except perhaps to the extent he is hurt by fellow members of the football-playing fraternity ripping his heart, after the way he got pounded all year long).
One thing is clear: I'm quicker to blame the Bears' inept PR department than I am to blame Cutler.
*****
I will miss these Jets. They played one of the worst halves of football you could think of, yet came within a Big Ben 3rd-down conversion of having a very good chance of winning the game. I think, in defeat, they did even more to humanize themselves than beating the Pats -- which, by the way, was a pretty good consolation prize. I know not for Rex or the players, but it should be for the fans.
*****
The Packers were/are better than the Bears. But give the Bears credit for making a lame blow-out into one of the most dramatic halves of football of the year, behind Caleb Hanie, who -- if nothing else -- goes down in Chicago sports mythology.
*****
More coming later. I'm working on a couple of bonus posts, when I'm not frantically updating Quickish. If you would, please give it a visit (or few) today -- and if you wouldn't mind reminding your friends about it, I would really appreciate it. Can't believe it's only been live for two weeks.
-- D.S.
Jay Cutler IS the story of the day, and I've been trying to figure out if I can add anything substantial to a discussion that has really come down to:
(1) Was he dogging it? (HE WAS DOGGING IT!)
(2) Was he injured? (LEAVE HIM ALONE!)
And I think I'm going to focus on the question marks, not either side, because it is the question marks that define the story.
Jay Cutler's problem was one of perception, but it wasn't the perception that he's an asshole normally thus he is dogging it now.
I put the blame for this entire "cutlerf--k" on the Bears PR team, which could have de-fused the entire situation with a simple "The docs said he can't play." That's it.
What compounded the failure was that they should have TOTALLY seen this problem brewing -- it was right there for everyone to see on Twitter, literally within 10 seconds of Cutler limping.
Jay Cutler doesn't need to get off the bench and look attentive, if that's not how he normally is and his teammates know it. The guy is a bit of a laconic chucklehead.
However, count me among the camp that believes that if he could have been in there, he would have been. Just because he's not emotive about it -- just because he has possibly the worst media-management skills of any player in the NFL (and, again, not helped by his own team's PR staff) -- doesn't mean he was faking it. Or didn't want it. Or gave up.
Or quit.
I will not condemn the rush-to-judgment that happened on Twitter during the afternoon -- hell, it made the game's Quickish stream infinitely more compelling.
I do think, however, that you can already see some walking-back as more of the story comes out -- as the Bears defend him, as columnists defend him, as players reconsider their snap judgment.
There is no question: Fair or not, Cutler has seen his career indelibly tarnished by this. It is, for now, the new defining moment of his career.
I don't think he cares (except perhaps to the extent he is hurt by fellow members of the football-playing fraternity ripping his heart, after the way he got pounded all year long).
One thing is clear: I'm quicker to blame the Bears' inept PR department than I am to blame Cutler.
*****
I will miss these Jets. They played one of the worst halves of football you could think of, yet came within a Big Ben 3rd-down conversion of having a very good chance of winning the game. I think, in defeat, they did even more to humanize themselves than beating the Pats -- which, by the way, was a pretty good consolation prize. I know not for Rex or the players, but it should be for the fans.
*****
The Packers were/are better than the Bears. But give the Bears credit for making a lame blow-out into one of the most dramatic halves of football of the year, behind Caleb Hanie, who -- if nothing else -- goes down in Chicago sports mythology.
*****
More coming later. I'm working on a couple of bonus posts, when I'm not frantically updating Quickish. If you would, please give it a visit (or few) today -- and if you wouldn't mind reminding your friends about it, I would really appreciate it. Can't believe it's only been live for two weeks.
-- D.S.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
1/23 (Very NFL) Quickie
This is going to be an awesome double-header of NFL conference championship games.
The weather is forbidding. The biggest personality in the league is involved (Rex Ryan). The biggest TV -- and most self-centered -- market (New York). The most legendary franchise (Packers). The hottest player (Aaron Rodgers). The best defensive player (Troy Polamalu). The best fan base (Steelers). One of the best rivalries (Chicago-Green Bay). Some regular-season precedent to affirm or overturn. And legitimate uncertainty over who will win.
Because if the Jets can beat the Pats in New England, anything can happen.
****
Please check out Quickish throughout the day -- and, if you want to see the system at its most up-tempo, no-huddle, fun-n-gun best, drop by during the game. Better yet: Leave it on a "second screen" (laptop, phone, iPad) during the game to keep up with the best real-time analysis we can find. And, if you wouldn't mind, tell a friend or two (or 10) about it.
****
Picks: Jets over Steelers, Packers over Bears.
****
NBA: Check out Quickish for two great highlights from the NBA last night: Blake Griffin's alley-oop and Kevin Durant's buzzer-beating game-winner.
(And John Wall and the Wiz beat the Celtics, in what will almost certainly be the Wizards' single-greatest highlight of the year -- perhaps the past few years. Thanks, League Pass.)
****
College Hoops: What a win by Texas yesterday. As top UT blogger Peter Bean of Burnt Orange Nation told Quickish (exclusive-ish-ly!), it was the biggest regular-season win in UT hoops history. Now, that team has no excuse not to make the Elite Eight.
Ohio State survives at Illinois: As I said yesterday, Jared Sullinger is the best post player in the country - and possibly the best player, period. (With respect to both UConn's Kemba Walker, who led UConn over Tennessee , and BYU's Jimmer Fredette, who had 42 in a Cougars win.)
****
Tons hopping over at Quickish. Would love to have you check it out. It'll keep you occupied until gametime -- and then keep you up during the games.
Enjoy 'em.
-- D.S.
The weather is forbidding. The biggest personality in the league is involved (Rex Ryan). The biggest TV -- and most self-centered -- market (New York). The most legendary franchise (Packers). The hottest player (Aaron Rodgers). The best defensive player (Troy Polamalu). The best fan base (Steelers). One of the best rivalries (Chicago-Green Bay). Some regular-season precedent to affirm or overturn. And legitimate uncertainty over who will win.
Because if the Jets can beat the Pats in New England, anything can happen.
****
Please check out Quickish throughout the day -- and, if you want to see the system at its most up-tempo, no-huddle, fun-n-gun best, drop by during the game. Better yet: Leave it on a "second screen" (laptop, phone, iPad) during the game to keep up with the best real-time analysis we can find. And, if you wouldn't mind, tell a friend or two (or 10) about it.
****
Picks: Jets over Steelers, Packers over Bears.
****
NBA: Check out Quickish for two great highlights from the NBA last night: Blake Griffin's alley-oop and Kevin Durant's buzzer-beating game-winner.
(And John Wall and the Wiz beat the Celtics, in what will almost certainly be the Wizards' single-greatest highlight of the year -- perhaps the past few years. Thanks, League Pass.)
****
College Hoops: What a win by Texas yesterday. As top UT blogger Peter Bean of Burnt Orange Nation told Quickish (exclusive-ish-ly!), it was the biggest regular-season win in UT hoops history. Now, that team has no excuse not to make the Elite Eight.
Ohio State survives at Illinois: As I said yesterday, Jared Sullinger is the best post player in the country - and possibly the best player, period. (With respect to both UConn's Kemba Walker, who led UConn over Tennessee , and BYU's Jimmer Fredette, who had 42 in a Cougars win.)
****
Tons hopping over at Quickish. Would love to have you check it out. It'll keep you occupied until gametime -- and then keep you up during the games.
Enjoy 'em.
-- D.S.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
1/22 Quickie: Jets, QBs, CBB, Rays
It's a long 36 hours or so until the NFL's conference-championship double-header, which -- if form holds -- will end up being one of the most-watched days of non-Super Bowl NFL in history.
The build-up has been near-SB in volume and intensity -- Rex and Tomlin, Rodgers vs. Cutler, Big Ben and history, Bart Scott and "Can't Wait!" The Jets' LACK of trash-talk is a story.
So what can keep us occupied until then?
Today is a terrific day of college hoops, with games running from noon (Ohio State-Illinois on CBS, Villanova-Syracuse on ESPN) through midnight, when Michigan State-Purdue will probably end).
So if you've been holding off on CBB this season for all the other stuff on the sports agenda -- mainly college football and pro football, with some NBA and NHL sprinkled in -- this is your day. Pay particular attention to OSU's Jared Sullinger -- the best post player in college hoops this year -- and UConn's Kemba Walker (playing Tennessee at 4 on CBS), who is the best guard in the country this year. There: You're all caught up.
Meanwhile, the whole baseball world is having a pretty good chuckle at the expense of the Angels, who took on the expense of Vernon Wells, who is vastly overpaid and has some questionable skills. It smacks of early-90s Yankees desperation, and the Angels' performance next season should reflect that. That team went from one that should have had the playoffs on lockdown for a half-decade to one that may have the least momentum in its division.
And I love the Rays signing Manny and Johnny Damon. First of all, I think Manny still has some pop and he is going to end up having a surprisingly good year -- you can already see this coming. And the pair of them might actually put Red Sox Nation who live in the Tampa-St. Pete area into seats from time to time. But Manny for $2 million? Where's the risk?
Wrapping in a bit of non-sports news, how about that surprise exit of Keith Olbermann from MSNBC last night? I know his deal will prevent him from doing TV news for a while, but I really do think he would be great if he moved over to MLB Network for the season and put all his energy and enthusiasm into baseball. It would be therapeutic for him and a benefit to baseball fans, who recognize that -- no matter what your political affiliation or temperament -- Olbermann knows and loves baseball.
Finally, if you didn't hear about it yesterday afternoon, we announced the SXSW sports-media panel I will be moderating, and it's going to be fantastic: ESPN's Jemele Hill, CNBC's Darren Rovell, SBNation's Spencer Hall and Deadspin's AJ Daulerio. It should be a frank and fast-paced discussion of the state of the industry.
Please give Quickish a look today (or throughout the day) -- and don't forget to come by tomorrow, particularly during the NFL games. I've found that Quickish during live events like football games is particularly useful for fans who are watching the game and are looking for a "second screen" experience. Thanks in advance!
Enjoy your Saturday.
-- D.S.
The build-up has been near-SB in volume and intensity -- Rex and Tomlin, Rodgers vs. Cutler, Big Ben and history, Bart Scott and "Can't Wait!" The Jets' LACK of trash-talk is a story.
So what can keep us occupied until then?
Today is a terrific day of college hoops, with games running from noon (Ohio State-Illinois on CBS, Villanova-Syracuse on ESPN) through midnight, when Michigan State-Purdue will probably end).
So if you've been holding off on CBB this season for all the other stuff on the sports agenda -- mainly college football and pro football, with some NBA and NHL sprinkled in -- this is your day. Pay particular attention to OSU's Jared Sullinger -- the best post player in college hoops this year -- and UConn's Kemba Walker (playing Tennessee at 4 on CBS), who is the best guard in the country this year. There: You're all caught up.
Meanwhile, the whole baseball world is having a pretty good chuckle at the expense of the Angels, who took on the expense of Vernon Wells, who is vastly overpaid and has some questionable skills. It smacks of early-90s Yankees desperation, and the Angels' performance next season should reflect that. That team went from one that should have had the playoffs on lockdown for a half-decade to one that may have the least momentum in its division.
And I love the Rays signing Manny and Johnny Damon. First of all, I think Manny still has some pop and he is going to end up having a surprisingly good year -- you can already see this coming. And the pair of them might actually put Red Sox Nation who live in the Tampa-St. Pete area into seats from time to time. But Manny for $2 million? Where's the risk?
Wrapping in a bit of non-sports news, how about that surprise exit of Keith Olbermann from MSNBC last night? I know his deal will prevent him from doing TV news for a while, but I really do think he would be great if he moved over to MLB Network for the season and put all his energy and enthusiasm into baseball. It would be therapeutic for him and a benefit to baseball fans, who recognize that -- no matter what your political affiliation or temperament -- Olbermann knows and loves baseball.
Finally, if you didn't hear about it yesterday afternoon, we announced the SXSW sports-media panel I will be moderating, and it's going to be fantastic: ESPN's Jemele Hill, CNBC's Darren Rovell, SBNation's Spencer Hall and Deadspin's AJ Daulerio. It should be a frank and fast-paced discussion of the state of the industry.
Please give Quickish a look today (or throughout the day) -- and don't forget to come by tomorrow, particularly during the NFL games. I've found that Quickish during live events like football games is particularly useful for fans who are watching the game and are looking for a "second screen" experience. Thanks in advance!
Enjoy your Saturday.
-- D.S.
Friday, January 21, 2011
1/21 Quickie: NFL Conf Title Games
There's a part of me that says we can't go wrong with any of the four possible Super Bowl combinations. Partly, that's because all four fan-bases are intolerable in their own way.
With no dog in the fight -- despite living in NYC and despite growing up a HUGE Bears fan -- I'm probably partial to Jets-Packers, for two reasons:
(1) The two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl are miserable displays of media oversaturation; the Jets will at least make it interesting.
(2) Aaron Rodgers is playing out of his mind, and presuming the Packers beat the Bears, he will still be on a roll. I would love to see him against a white-hot defense that would have stopped -- in order -- Peyton, Brady and Big Ben.
My picks: Jets over Steelers. Packers over Bears. Two road teams winning in the conference title games. Consequently: Congratulations, Steelers and Bears fans.
*****
There is so much good stuff being posted over at Quickish on a minute-to-minute basis (ok, more like 15-minute-to-15-minute basis) that I can barely keep it all straight in my head.
If you haven't yet today, I would love it if you would pop over there to check it out. Even visiting once a day will keep you up on the real-time chatter and all the best longer-form commentary.
Two more requests: (1) If you haven't dropped by during an NFL playoff game, give it a try on Sunday. Oh, watch the game on TV for sure. But fire up your laptop, phone or iPad and head over to Quickish; I really do think it is the very best "live" online companion you will find.
(And I wouldn't say that if I thought something else out there was better -- I'd point you to THAT and then tell you to try Quickish anyway. But I monitor all the big live-blogs and comment sections during the games, looking for good comments -- and Quickish is faster, easier to consume and smarter.)
(2) By design and necessity, Quickish doesn't have a huge marketing budget and no big distribution partners (yet). It really relies on people who enjoy it telling their friends, co-workers, whoever -- your recommendation is the most powerful thing out there.
So tell some friends. Tell all your friends. Tweet it out. Like the Quickish Facebook page (or just drop a status update on Facebook about it). It would really help.
OK: I'll stop now. (As soon as we get to a million users, I'm happy to stop being so pushy!)
Enjoy the games, and hopefully another update later.
-- D.S.
With no dog in the fight -- despite living in NYC and despite growing up a HUGE Bears fan -- I'm probably partial to Jets-Packers, for two reasons:
(1) The two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl are miserable displays of media oversaturation; the Jets will at least make it interesting.
(2) Aaron Rodgers is playing out of his mind, and presuming the Packers beat the Bears, he will still be on a roll. I would love to see him against a white-hot defense that would have stopped -- in order -- Peyton, Brady and Big Ben.
My picks: Jets over Steelers. Packers over Bears. Two road teams winning in the conference title games. Consequently: Congratulations, Steelers and Bears fans.
*****
There is so much good stuff being posted over at Quickish on a minute-to-minute basis (ok, more like 15-minute-to-15-minute basis) that I can barely keep it all straight in my head.
If you haven't yet today, I would love it if you would pop over there to check it out. Even visiting once a day will keep you up on the real-time chatter and all the best longer-form commentary.
Two more requests: (1) If you haven't dropped by during an NFL playoff game, give it a try on Sunday. Oh, watch the game on TV for sure. But fire up your laptop, phone or iPad and head over to Quickish; I really do think it is the very best "live" online companion you will find.
(And I wouldn't say that if I thought something else out there was better -- I'd point you to THAT and then tell you to try Quickish anyway. But I monitor all the big live-blogs and comment sections during the games, looking for good comments -- and Quickish is faster, easier to consume and smarter.)
(2) By design and necessity, Quickish doesn't have a huge marketing budget and no big distribution partners (yet). It really relies on people who enjoy it telling their friends, co-workers, whoever -- your recommendation is the most powerful thing out there.
So tell some friends. Tell all your friends. Tweet it out. Like the Quickish Facebook page (or just drop a status update on Facebook about it). It would really help.
OK: I'll stop now. (As soon as we get to a million users, I'm happy to stop being so pushy!)
Enjoy the games, and hopefully another update later.
-- D.S.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
1/20 Quickie: Melo and More
Good for the Nets. You can mock them for being suckers in all this, but it was obvious from the beginning -- and throughout -- that Carmelo Anthony had NO interest in playing for them.
The Nets' pursuit of him was pathetic, given that he wouldn't -- and would never -- reciprocate. (And even if he did sign an extension with them, is there any doubt he'd bolt in three years as soon as the deal was up?)
The Nets are better off without him -- and instead focusing on getting players who WANT to be there. Or drafting good young talent and being entertaining, if not winning. I think fans can live with entertaining basketball; only 3-4 teams a year have a legit shot at the title.
As for the Nuggets, good luck getting any more than dimes on the dollar for Carmelo, who almost surely seems destined for New York. Fine -- especially if NY can get Chris Paul or Deron Williams in the summer of 2012.
*****
NFL Conference Championships: Everyone wants to talk about Rex Ryan and the Jets -- with good reason -- but I love this Packers-Bears game in Chicago. After what Green Bay did to the Falcons, I find it hard to believe they won't keep rolling through the Bears all the way to the SB.
*****
Charles Barkley being part of the NCAA Tournament broadcast is the best thing to happen to the Tournament on TV since they created the "on-demand" service that lets you watch any game you want online for free. The more Charles the better; they cannot have him on-air enough.
*****
This Tom Jackson thing won't go away: He picked the Pats to win by a lot, then back-tracked to say that he only did it to motivate the Jets. This is ludicrous. All Jackson has is the trust of fans that he is offering up an honest opinion. I don't expect him to be right; I expect him to be earnest. And now I'll never believe a prediction from him again. (To the extent that pre-game picks EVER matter, given that there is zero accountability for being wrong.)
*****
Yikes, it is a slow sports day. Last night's frenzy over Carmelo was worth it though. Did you check out Quickish's coverage? Finding that Quickish is super-helpful to keep up or catch up on those big stories in the hour or two after they break.
-- D.S.
The Nets' pursuit of him was pathetic, given that he wouldn't -- and would never -- reciprocate. (And even if he did sign an extension with them, is there any doubt he'd bolt in three years as soon as the deal was up?)
The Nets are better off without him -- and instead focusing on getting players who WANT to be there. Or drafting good young talent and being entertaining, if not winning. I think fans can live with entertaining basketball; only 3-4 teams a year have a legit shot at the title.
As for the Nuggets, good luck getting any more than dimes on the dollar for Carmelo, who almost surely seems destined for New York. Fine -- especially if NY can get Chris Paul or Deron Williams in the summer of 2012.
*****
NFL Conference Championships: Everyone wants to talk about Rex Ryan and the Jets -- with good reason -- but I love this Packers-Bears game in Chicago. After what Green Bay did to the Falcons, I find it hard to believe they won't keep rolling through the Bears all the way to the SB.
*****
Charles Barkley being part of the NCAA Tournament broadcast is the best thing to happen to the Tournament on TV since they created the "on-demand" service that lets you watch any game you want online for free. The more Charles the better; they cannot have him on-air enough.
*****
This Tom Jackson thing won't go away: He picked the Pats to win by a lot, then back-tracked to say that he only did it to motivate the Jets. This is ludicrous. All Jackson has is the trust of fans that he is offering up an honest opinion. I don't expect him to be right; I expect him to be earnest. And now I'll never believe a prediction from him again. (To the extent that pre-game picks EVER matter, given that there is zero accountability for being wrong.)
*****
Yikes, it is a slow sports day. Last night's frenzy over Carmelo was worth it though. Did you check out Quickish's coverage? Finding that Quickish is super-helpful to keep up or catch up on those big stories in the hour or two after they break.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
1/19 Quickie: Ugh
Apologies to everyone for the lack of a post today. A doctor's appointment for one of my kids threw the whole well-oiled machine off track. Back in full force tomorrow a.m., for sure.
In the meantime, I hope you looked for all the quick-ish goodness over at Quickish throughout the day. If you haven't been yet today, take 30 seconds -- a minute, tops! -- to head over and catch up now.
Apologies again.
-- D.S.
In the meantime, I hope you looked for all the quick-ish goodness over at Quickish throughout the day. If you haven't been yet today, take 30 seconds -- a minute, tops! -- to head over and catch up now.
Apologies again.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Revisiting Comcast-NBC Sports
With today's FCC approval of Comcast's acquisition of NBC-Universal, it's a good moment to re-visit my post from a year ago about the potential of this on the sports-media front, with updates on my recommendations based on new realities a year later:
ORIGINAL (12/03/09):
I had been sitting on an analysis of the sports-media potential of a Comcast merger with NBC-Universal for a month, until the deal looked sealed. The NYT's Richard Sandomir beat me to it, but I want to drill into it just a little bit.
Here's the top-line: The sports-media monster that comes from Comcast-NBCU has the potential to be the biggest alternative to ESPN in the history of sports media. Note how I avoid using "competitor," because I'm coming at this from a consumer/fan perspective: More choice is a good thing. No one will ever replace ESPN, but this might offer another comprehensive high-end option.
The fundamental thing Comcast-NBCU needs to do is -- like ESPN within Disney -- create one all-encompassing sports brand that will be the focal point for all sports on NBC, Versus, Golf Channel, Universal Sports, all the Comcast regional nets and across every media platform -- sorry, Versus, you're gone. Let's call it "NBC Sports Network" (NBCSN)
There are plenty of TV assets currently accessible to Comcast/NBCU to make NBCSN a compelling network, across multiple channels:
*NFL Sunday Night Football
*NFL Red Zone channel (!!!)
*Olympics
*Notre Dame football
*Grand Slam tennis finals
*US Open (USA)
*MMA/UFC (via Versus -- thanks, reader Zak W.)
*At least one golf major championship
*Mountain West college football
*NHL
*Golf Channel
*Bull Riding, Cycling, MMA and other Versus sports
*The 76ers and Flyers (fwiw)
*Bob Costas
*Dan Patrick (via FNIA)
*Tony Dungy (via FNIA)
*Keith Olbermann (via MSNBC)
*Peter King (via FNIA)
*10 regional sports TV networks in some of the biggest markets, all of which could feed a "mother" channel.
But they need more, a lot more: National studio programming, and lots of it. And not cheesy ones either. Take sports coverage as seriously as fans do. As Sandomir pointed out, they need a SportsCenter franchise. I'll go one better: They need a PTI-like franchise, too.
Then there are the TV assets that a cash-flow powerhouse like Comcast-NBCU could afford to buy, like the NCAA Tournament, more Olympics, NFL Thursday Night Football. And I'd cut a deal with the NBA and MLB networks to get access to cut in to any game they want.
(By the way, here's a memo to NBCU's new Comcast overlords: Now that you own MSNBC, try to recruit MSNBC's brilliant primetime programming honcho Bill Wolff -- an ESPN veteran, by the way -- to be your head of all programming for NBC Sports Network under Dick Ebersol.)
But I'm actually equally intrigued by the online sports powerhouse that could be created. Again, let's review the assets that the new company has access to right now:
NEW (1/18/10):
*NBCSports.com
*Pro Football Talk (via NBCSports.com)
*The other NBCSports.com "Talk" sport blogs.
*10 regional TV networks' online sites (getting huge investment for video and reported content)
*Darren Rovell (via CNBC)
*Rick Chandler (Deadspin alum and NBCSports.com lead blogger)
*RotoWorld (via NBCSports.com)
*Access to all of the NBC Local online sports content talent, including Deadspin's Drew Magary.
*Versus.com
*The MSNBC.com front-page firehose
And, again, with Comcast's cash flow powering it, here are the simple, logical and efficient moves that NBC Sports Network could combine with the existing assets to instantly turn it into a Top 2-3 site online, with massive growth potential in local media and social/mobile media:
*Acquire SBNation, which exponentially boosts Comcast's local online efforts. (Comcast's VC unit is already an investor in SBNation.)
*Gobble up as many early-stage sports-media and sports-tech start-ups as you can. For example, FanVibe (which is trying to be Foursquare for sports); numberFire (which cleaned house in fantasy football projections in 2010); and, yes, self-servingly, they should at least ask about Quickish.
*Fanhouse just flooded the market with 100 talented writers, bloggers and web producers. You can cherry-pick any you want: Leave the newspaper alums to Sporting News and start with the folks who have already achieved online virality: Clay Travis, Bethlehem Shoals and a few others. They're all available.
*Partner with Yahoo! Sports, which has the massive online reach but lacks a TV presence.
*Build your own version of ESPN3.com, an online-only cable network.
The idea of a new sports TV network gets all the headlines, because it involves a lot bigger dollars spent and generated. But much more efficiently, the new company can massively expand its existing footprint online, bringing together all of these various (and valuable) assets -- along with a couple quick acquisitions -- to become a leader in emerging sports media, not just televised sports media.
-- D.S.
ORIGINAL (12/03/09):
I had been sitting on an analysis of the sports-media potential of a Comcast merger with NBC-Universal for a month, until the deal looked sealed. The NYT's Richard Sandomir beat me to it, but I want to drill into it just a little bit.
Here's the top-line: The sports-media monster that comes from Comcast-NBCU has the potential to be the biggest alternative to ESPN in the history of sports media. Note how I avoid using "competitor," because I'm coming at this from a consumer/fan perspective: More choice is a good thing. No one will ever replace ESPN, but this might offer another comprehensive high-end option.
The fundamental thing Comcast-NBCU needs to do is -- like ESPN within Disney -- create one all-encompassing sports brand that will be the focal point for all sports on NBC, Versus, Golf Channel, Universal Sports, all the Comcast regional nets and across every media platform -- sorry, Versus, you're gone. Let's call it "NBC Sports Network" (NBCSN)
There are plenty of TV assets currently accessible to Comcast/NBCU to make NBCSN a compelling network, across multiple channels:
*NFL Sunday Night Football
*NFL Red Zone channel (!!!)
*Olympics
*Notre Dame football
*Grand Slam tennis finals
*US Open (USA)
*MMA/UFC (via Versus -- thanks, reader Zak W.)
*At least one golf major championship
*Mountain West college football
*NHL
*Golf Channel
*Bull Riding, Cycling, MMA and other Versus sports
*The 76ers and Flyers (fwiw)
*Bob Costas
*Dan Patrick (via FNIA)
*Tony Dungy (via FNIA)
*Keith Olbermann (via MSNBC)
*Peter King (via FNIA)
*10 regional sports TV networks in some of the biggest markets, all of which could feed a "mother" channel.
But they need more, a lot more: National studio programming, and lots of it. And not cheesy ones either. Take sports coverage as seriously as fans do. As Sandomir pointed out, they need a SportsCenter franchise. I'll go one better: They need a PTI-like franchise, too.
Then there are the TV assets that a cash-flow powerhouse like Comcast-NBCU could afford to buy, like the NCAA Tournament, more Olympics, NFL Thursday Night Football. And I'd cut a deal with the NBA and MLB networks to get access to cut in to any game they want.
(By the way, here's a memo to NBCU's new Comcast overlords: Now that you own MSNBC, try to recruit MSNBC's brilliant primetime programming honcho Bill Wolff -- an ESPN veteran, by the way -- to be your head of all programming for NBC Sports Network under Dick Ebersol.)
But I'm actually equally intrigued by the online sports powerhouse that could be created. Again, let's review the assets that the new company has access to right now:
NEW (1/18/10):
*NBCSports.com
*Pro Football Talk (via NBCSports.com)
*The other NBCSports.com "Talk" sport blogs.
*10 regional TV networks' online sites (getting huge investment for video and reported content)
*Darren Rovell (via CNBC)
*Rick Chandler (Deadspin alum and NBCSports.com lead blogger)
*RotoWorld (via NBCSports.com)
*Access to all of the NBC Local online sports content talent, including Deadspin's Drew Magary.
*Versus.com
*The MSNBC.com front-page firehose
And, again, with Comcast's cash flow powering it, here are the simple, logical and efficient moves that NBC Sports Network could combine with the existing assets to instantly turn it into a Top 2-3 site online, with massive growth potential in local media and social/mobile media:
*Acquire SBNation, which exponentially boosts Comcast's local online efforts. (Comcast's VC unit is already an investor in SBNation.)
*Gobble up as many early-stage sports-media and sports-tech start-ups as you can. For example, FanVibe (which is trying to be Foursquare for sports); numberFire (which cleaned house in fantasy football projections in 2010); and, yes, self-servingly, they should at least ask about Quickish.
*Fanhouse just flooded the market with 100 talented writers, bloggers and web producers. You can cherry-pick any you want: Leave the newspaper alums to Sporting News and start with the folks who have already achieved online virality: Clay Travis, Bethlehem Shoals and a few others. They're all available.
*Partner with Yahoo! Sports, which has the massive online reach but lacks a TV presence.
*Build your own version of ESPN3.com, an online-only cable network.
The idea of a new sports TV network gets all the headlines, because it involves a lot bigger dollars spent and generated. But much more efficiently, the new company can massively expand its existing footprint online, bringing together all of these various (and valuable) assets -- along with a couple quick acquisitions -- to become a leader in emerging sports media, not just televised sports media.
-- D.S.
01/18 Quickie: Ryan, Griffin, Favre, More
The pace of sports news is lulling a bit, but it's still a jam-packed day of Quickish coverage:
*Jets Hangover: The prevailing opinion continues to be that if you talk, you better back it up -- and because the Jets backed it up, they're o.k. with fans.
(Ironically, the Jets have totally toned down the rhetoric in the first 36 hours since their match-up with the Steelers was set. Different set of mind-games for Rex?)
*Blake Griffin scores NBA season-high 47: And, at this point, I'm ready to throw my support behind Griffin for more than just Rookie of the Year -- how about MVP?
*Sidney Crosby vs. the NHL: Today, NHL All-Star captains are announced, and Crosby is expected to be one of them. And yet, someone is leaking that he might skip the weekend. (Check out Quickish for a tip to a Yahoo/Wyshynski explanation.)
*Brett Favre "retires": Not being sarcastic at all, I just don't believe it. And I won't believe it until not just next season goes by, but TWO seasons go by. I don't think he really wants to retire.
*Zenyatta wins Horse of the Year: As she should.
*LeBron is launching a web-based cartoon series that is described as a cross between "Fat Albert" and "The Boondocks," which doesn't make a ton of sense.
As I wrote on Quickish -- anticipating that this could turn into a "thing" across sports media -- I'm waiting for the "very special episode" where cartoon LeBron learns a tough lesson about abandoning his die-hard fans.
*What was Tom Brady huffing out of that Gatorade cup? Ammonia. It's common practice in the NFL, and I could totally see it becoming a problem with the "Won't somebody think of the children!" crowd. (Frankly, I think the ammonia-huffing is much more insidious as a bad influence on kids than steroids, which are a lot harder to come by. Ammonia-huffing is off-the-shelf.
There's tons more on Quickish today, throughout the day. Please give it a try -- or, if you're already a regular, please tell your friends and co-workers. At this point, getting the word out and getting people to (a) know about it and (b) try it is the No. 1 challenge/priority. Thanks.
-- D.S.
*Jets Hangover: The prevailing opinion continues to be that if you talk, you better back it up -- and because the Jets backed it up, they're o.k. with fans.
(Ironically, the Jets have totally toned down the rhetoric in the first 36 hours since their match-up with the Steelers was set. Different set of mind-games for Rex?)
*Blake Griffin scores NBA season-high 47: And, at this point, I'm ready to throw my support behind Griffin for more than just Rookie of the Year -- how about MVP?
*Sidney Crosby vs. the NHL: Today, NHL All-Star captains are announced, and Crosby is expected to be one of them. And yet, someone is leaking that he might skip the weekend. (Check out Quickish for a tip to a Yahoo/Wyshynski explanation.)
*Brett Favre "retires": Not being sarcastic at all, I just don't believe it. And I won't believe it until not just next season goes by, but TWO seasons go by. I don't think he really wants to retire.
*Zenyatta wins Horse of the Year: As she should.
*LeBron is launching a web-based cartoon series that is described as a cross between "Fat Albert" and "The Boondocks," which doesn't make a ton of sense.
As I wrote on Quickish -- anticipating that this could turn into a "thing" across sports media -- I'm waiting for the "very special episode" where cartoon LeBron learns a tough lesson about abandoning his die-hard fans.
*What was Tom Brady huffing out of that Gatorade cup? Ammonia. It's common practice in the NFL, and I could totally see it becoming a problem with the "Won't somebody think of the children!" crowd. (Frankly, I think the ammonia-huffing is much more insidious as a bad influence on kids than steroids, which are a lot harder to come by. Ammonia-huffing is off-the-shelf.
There's tons more on Quickish today, throughout the day. Please give it a try -- or, if you're already a regular, please tell your friends and co-workers. At this point, getting the word out and getting people to (a) know about it and (b) try it is the No. 1 challenge/priority. Thanks.
-- D.S.
Monday, January 17, 2011
1/17 Quickie: J-E-T-S, Jets! Jets! Jets!
Wow. That was one of the greatest NFL wins I have ever seen.
When you consider everything: That the Pats were the overwhelming favorite, playing at home and coming off a bye week, having stomped the Jets 45-3 just a few weeks ago, with a sick offense and with the Jets having talked themselves into a corner...
And the Jets just shut them down. They racked up that Pats offense and made them look like chumps -- it was as inspired of a defensive effort as I have ever seen, including the Giants doing just enough to stop the unbeaten Pats in the Super Bowl (or, say, the '85 Bears totally shutting down the Pats in Super Bowl XX.)
Most impressively -- and folks disagree with me, and that's totally fair -- the Jets talked as big of a game as I have seen a team talk, certainly in the playoffs against a juggernaut like the Pats were...
...and the Jets backed it up. Talk and lose, and you're a huge chump. Far more of a chump than had you not talked and lost.
But talk and WIN? You're far more of a badass than had you NOT talked and won.
The fact is that the Jets' talking wasn't just a reflection of their coach or some team mentality to yap; it was a concerted effort of psy-ops to get in the heads of the Pats. I honestly think it wouldn't work -- that no Belichick-coached team would fall for that. But the Pats did.
It wasn't just the talking alone, obviously. The Jets' schemes were superlative, but the talking didn't make those schemes less effective, and if it got the Jets themselves fired up -- rather than taking the Pats out of their game -- that's also a perfectly acceptable reason to do it.
These Jets may talk -- a lot -- but they are likable, not the least of which because they dispatched the Patriots, a team loathed everywhere but New England (or by displaced Pats fans). You can find the Jets annoying, but even more, you really didn't want to see the Pats win it all.
Check out the Quickish feed from last night to re-live one of the best performances in NFL Playoff history -- and thus NFL history, period.
*****
Bears throttle the Seahawks: OK, I think we can all get behind Bears-Packers at Soldier Field with the NFC's Super Bowl spot on the line.
Nets given permission by Nuggets to talk directly to Carmelo: If Mikael Prokhorov gets a chance to talk to Melo, he'llscare him into signing the extension agreeing to a trade.
(UPDATE: They might not have permission -- and even if they do, Carmelo seems REALLY disinterested in playing for them. Why are the Nets pushing if he's not into it? Even if they convince him today, he will have a count-down clock on until this new deal expires.)
Red sign Joey Votto to an extension at a very reasonable 3Y/$38M. That's a lot less than the Cardinals -- or, say, the Mets -- are going to pay for Albert Pujols.
Blake Griffin and the Clippers beat the Lakers: Coming off a win over the Heat, this would qualify as the best week in the history of the franchise.
The weekend's biggest winners: Rex Ryan, Bart Scott, Santonio Holmes, Aaron Rodgers, Jay Cutler, Big Ben.
-- D.S.
When you consider everything: That the Pats were the overwhelming favorite, playing at home and coming off a bye week, having stomped the Jets 45-3 just a few weeks ago, with a sick offense and with the Jets having talked themselves into a corner...
And the Jets just shut them down. They racked up that Pats offense and made them look like chumps -- it was as inspired of a defensive effort as I have ever seen, including the Giants doing just enough to stop the unbeaten Pats in the Super Bowl (or, say, the '85 Bears totally shutting down the Pats in Super Bowl XX.)
Most impressively -- and folks disagree with me, and that's totally fair -- the Jets talked as big of a game as I have seen a team talk, certainly in the playoffs against a juggernaut like the Pats were...
...and the Jets backed it up. Talk and lose, and you're a huge chump. Far more of a chump than had you not talked and lost.
But talk and WIN? You're far more of a badass than had you NOT talked and won.
The fact is that the Jets' talking wasn't just a reflection of their coach or some team mentality to yap; it was a concerted effort of psy-ops to get in the heads of the Pats. I honestly think it wouldn't work -- that no Belichick-coached team would fall for that. But the Pats did.
It wasn't just the talking alone, obviously. The Jets' schemes were superlative, but the talking didn't make those schemes less effective, and if it got the Jets themselves fired up -- rather than taking the Pats out of their game -- that's also a perfectly acceptable reason to do it.
These Jets may talk -- a lot -- but they are likable, not the least of which because they dispatched the Patriots, a team loathed everywhere but New England (or by displaced Pats fans). You can find the Jets annoying, but even more, you really didn't want to see the Pats win it all.
Check out the Quickish feed from last night to re-live one of the best performances in NFL Playoff history -- and thus NFL history, period.
*****
Bears throttle the Seahawks: OK, I think we can all get behind Bears-Packers at Soldier Field with the NFC's Super Bowl spot on the line.
Nets given permission by Nuggets to talk directly to Carmelo: If Mikael Prokhorov gets a chance to talk to Melo, he'll
(UPDATE: They might not have permission -- and even if they do, Carmelo seems REALLY disinterested in playing for them. Why are the Nets pushing if he's not into it? Even if they convince him today, he will have a count-down clock on until this new deal expires.)
Red sign Joey Votto to an extension at a very reasonable 3Y/$38M. That's a lot less than the Cardinals -- or, say, the Mets -- are going to pay for Albert Pujols.
Blake Griffin and the Clippers beat the Lakers: Coming off a win over the Heat, this would qualify as the best week in the history of the franchise.
The weekend's biggest winners: Rex Ryan, Bart Scott, Santonio Holmes, Aaron Rodgers, Jay Cutler, Big Ben.
-- D.S.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
1/16 Quickie: Rodgers, Ben, Jets-Pats
Here's some "realtalk": Aaron Rodgers' performance yesterday was better than any single game Brett Favre had for the Packers.
It wasn't just the finest performance by a QB in the history of the Packers franchise (oh, Starr fans, fine: In the ESPN Era), but it was one of the greatest performances by a QB in NFL Playoff history.
It was sublime to watch (and to follow on Quickish, if you did -- and you still can!) -- a QB playing about as well as you can witness one play, under any conditions, let alone a road game against the top conference seed coming off a restful bye week.
Rodgers was already a great QB -- top tier in the NFL, along with Brady, Manning and, this season, Vick. But a game like that on a stage like this elevates him to superstar status.
****
After watching that insanely intense Steelers-Ravens game, it seems crazy to think that it would end up the second-biggest storyline of the day, but that's how good Rodgers was.
...And how bad the Ravens' offense was in the 2nd half, even as its defense faltered just enough -- let's call it one insane 70-yard play on 3rd-and-19 late in the 4th quarter -- to let a win slip away. The offense, with its free-agent WR drops and its Flacco-ness, made it worse.
The Ravens should have won. They didn't. Even allowing that beating Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh in the playoffs is no easy task, that makes Baltimore an unlikeable loser. No moral victories here.
*****
Pats vs. Jets: The cover of the NY Post today is outrageous -- they fully embrace the crazy, and I love it. I am no fan of the Pats -- although I love Belichick -- and I find myself enjoying the Ryan-led bluster of the Jets, who should be considered massive underdogs. I would like nothing more than the Jets to win -- not quite as much as I wanted the Giants to beat the then-unbeaten Pats in the Super Bowl, but certainly enough to be on the "rooting for Jets" side. Too bad they're going to get drilled.
*****
It is a complete mis-read by NFL "experts" to think that Seattle making -- and hosting -- the NFC championship game would be bad for the NFL, some sort of mockery or sham. On the contrary, casual and ("non-") fans would absolutely love it, and it would only increase attention on the league from more of the country, as everyone embraces the "Cinderella."
Most of the country couldn't care less that the Seahawks are under .500 -- in fact, that's part of the charm. It's like calling Cinderella "mediocre" and insisting she isn't worthy of going to the ball unless she puts on superficially fancy clothes.
I grew up a huge -- HUGE -- Bears fan. And it was in DC, so I took a fair amount of grief from my friends, who were ALL Redskins fans. But I find myself rooting for this unique Seahawks story to continue, all the way to a home game back in Seattle with a Super Bowl bid on the line.
*****
*Carmelo jerseys are 50% off at the Nuggets team store: Make of that what you will.
*Albert Pujols wants a new deal by the time spring training starts: And? Why won't the Cards pay the guy the rate he has earned -- and deserves? He's an all-time Top 10 player.
*Enjoy the games today. Even (or especially) if you're watching the games on TV, please drop by Quickish during the games for the best "live" accompaniment of big sports events you'll find.
-- D.S.
It wasn't just the finest performance by a QB in the history of the Packers franchise (oh, Starr fans, fine: In the ESPN Era), but it was one of the greatest performances by a QB in NFL Playoff history.
It was sublime to watch (and to follow on Quickish, if you did -- and you still can!) -- a QB playing about as well as you can witness one play, under any conditions, let alone a road game against the top conference seed coming off a restful bye week.
Rodgers was already a great QB -- top tier in the NFL, along with Brady, Manning and, this season, Vick. But a game like that on a stage like this elevates him to superstar status.
****
After watching that insanely intense Steelers-Ravens game, it seems crazy to think that it would end up the second-biggest storyline of the day, but that's how good Rodgers was.
...And how bad the Ravens' offense was in the 2nd half, even as its defense faltered just enough -- let's call it one insane 70-yard play on 3rd-and-19 late in the 4th quarter -- to let a win slip away. The offense, with its free-agent WR drops and its Flacco-ness, made it worse.
The Ravens should have won. They didn't. Even allowing that beating Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh in the playoffs is no easy task, that makes Baltimore an unlikeable loser. No moral victories here.
*****
Pats vs. Jets: The cover of the NY Post today is outrageous -- they fully embrace the crazy, and I love it. I am no fan of the Pats -- although I love Belichick -- and I find myself enjoying the Ryan-led bluster of the Jets, who should be considered massive underdogs. I would like nothing more than the Jets to win -- not quite as much as I wanted the Giants to beat the then-unbeaten Pats in the Super Bowl, but certainly enough to be on the "rooting for Jets" side. Too bad they're going to get drilled.
*****
It is a complete mis-read by NFL "experts" to think that Seattle making -- and hosting -- the NFC championship game would be bad for the NFL, some sort of mockery or sham. On the contrary, casual and ("non-") fans would absolutely love it, and it would only increase attention on the league from more of the country, as everyone embraces the "Cinderella."
Most of the country couldn't care less that the Seahawks are under .500 -- in fact, that's part of the charm. It's like calling Cinderella "mediocre" and insisting she isn't worthy of going to the ball unless she puts on superficially fancy clothes.
I grew up a huge -- HUGE -- Bears fan. And it was in DC, so I took a fair amount of grief from my friends, who were ALL Redskins fans. But I find myself rooting for this unique Seahawks story to continue, all the way to a home game back in Seattle with a Super Bowl bid on the line.
*****
*Carmelo jerseys are 50% off at the Nuggets team store: Make of that what you will.
*Albert Pujols wants a new deal by the time spring training starts: And? Why won't the Cards pay the guy the rate he has earned -- and deserves? He's an all-time Top 10 player.
*Enjoy the games today. Even (or especially) if you're watching the games on TV, please drop by Quickish during the games for the best "live" accompaniment of big sports events you'll find.
-- D.S.
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